Tech rally pushes Nasdaq to a record closing high

Wall Street’s three major indexes rose on Monday, led by a rally in tech stocks, pushing the Nasdaq to a record closing high as investors bet on a continuation of strong economic growth, while falling oil prices weighed on the energy sector.

Apple shares rose to their highest ever due to investor bets on its annual developers conference and Microsoft impressed with an acquisition, pushing the S&P 500 technology index to a record high, while Amazon.com led consumer stocks higher.

Better-than-expected US jobs data for May was still key to investor optimism as traders turned their focus away from recent trade war fears.

However, while impressed “to see a jobs report so strong late in an economic expansion,” Hooper worried about the US government’s announcement last week of steel and aluminum tariffs for Europe, Canada and Mexico, which ended a two-month exemption.

“The jobs report is looking in the rear-view mirror while the protectionist actions last week will impact the future,” she said. “Investors may be caught off guard if there is a negative impact to economic growth this year from protectionism.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 178.48 points, or 0.72 per cent, to 24,813.69, the S&P 500 gained 12.25 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 2,746.87.

The Nasdaq Composite added 52.13 points, or 0.69 per cent, to reach 7,606.46, a record closing high. The S&P 500’s technology sector was the benchmark index’s biggest boost with a 0.8 per cent gain.

Apple unveiled its latest operating system iOS 12 at the conference and after paring some gains in the afternoon, it closed up 0.8 per cent.